Research findings by one of our final year BSc Geography students have been highlighted on the UK Government’s website for World Environment Day.
Rosie Jaques dissertation project investigated bird populations on coal mine water treatment systems run by the UK Government’s Coal Authority. These systems have long been shown to improve water quality in former areas of coal mining, but the additional benefits they may bring to wildlife had not previously been studied.
Rosie’s dissertation investigated which birds were present during breeding season at two major mine water treatment sites in South Yorkshire. She found a range of bird species across the sites including several from the UK amber and red list of conservation concern. Species recorded by Rosie included reed buntings, yellowhammers, linnets and kingfishers.
Dr Will Mayes (Geography, Geology and Environment), who supervised the dissertation project alongside Dr Sue Hull (Biology and Marine Sciences), said:
‘It’s fantastic to see our students applying their practical skills to projects with real-world applications. The findings from Rosie’s work will hopefully feed into practical conservation measures at Coal Authority sites and it’s great to see her work showcased this way.”
Rosie, who is graduating this summer, said:
‘I’d like to thank the Coal Authority for facilitating access to their sites for my dissertation. It was very enjoyable to get first-hand experience of environmental and ecological survey work and it has really inspired me to work in the environment sector in the future.’
Rosie’s images collected as part of survey work were featured on the UK Government’s website.
Find out more about our Geography, Geology and Environmental Science programmes.